Forgotten Stars
by Tabithatibi
Summary: Who said life ended at death? This is the story of Lily and James after they die. Should be quite sad, quite funny, and quite this-and-that at times, if you know what I mean. I've put Humour and family as the genres, but they might change. R&R! Tabs :D
1. I Win, MouldyShorts

_Here it is. I know it's short, but the chapters will get longer. This is just an introduction. There'll be one for Lily too.

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I Win, Mouldy-Shorts

It was not pain unimaginable. He was not filled with regrets that choked him with grief. And his life did not flash before him the way they always said it did.

But, on the other hand, he did not drift through the dark door of death in a hazy bliss. He didn't slip from life in a dreamlike state. And he _definitely_ didn't go willingly.

A flash of green light and he landed hard on the floor. Uncertainly, James blinked a few times and sat up. He was...fine. He was...alive. Voldemort had failed!

'Ha!' James gave a joyous shout, and sprang to his feet, not noticing that he floated a couple of inches from the ground before his feet landed softly on the carpet again.

'HA! I _win_, you mouldy piece of filth! I win, Mouldy-shorts! I WI-Hey, where's he gone?' for James had just realised that while he had been singing and dancing, Voldemort had swept away up the stairs. Just one word raced through James' head. _Lily._

How could he have forgotten about her and Harry? James practically (almost literally, if he had only known it) flew up the stairs and barged into the nursery. A terrible scene met his eyes; framed in the doorway stood Lord Voldemort, pointing his wand directly at Lily, his Lily, his beautiful Lily, his brave Lily, who was even now begging, pleading for Voldemort to take her life instead of Harry's.

'NO!' bellowed James, but no one noticed, 'Don't kill either of them!'

'...Please...take me instead!'

It broke James' heart to hear Lily saying such things, but as much as he wanted to intervene, there seemed to be an invisible barrier that prevented him from walking forwards, from reaching out to help his beloved family.

'Stand aside you silly girl!'

'_Don't call her a silly girl!'_ James growled through gritted teeth. Again, no one paid him any heed. Why wouldn't they listen to him?

'Lily! Lily!' James tried to run forward again, but again he was prevented from reaching Lily.

And then, the two words that shattered his world were spoken in harsh, clear tones.

'_Avada Kedavra_.'

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_There we go. The next chapter includes Lily working out she's dead much faster than James. ;)_

_I felt the little victory dance and then realizing Voldemort was gone was just typicall James. Or typical nice James that is. Typical when he's not a bully. :)_

_Tabs :D_


	2. Cold Death

_Hello again! Crikey, this must be my fastest update ever! Probably because this chapter's not very good...But I still like it, because it's about Lily, and she's amazing...  
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Cold Death

Lily fell to the floor, flaming red hair fanning out around her, eyes still sparkling. Lily knew at once that she was dead. For one thing, she could suddenly see James, standing watching her from the corner of the room, his thin face pale and ashen. For another thing, when she sat up, she could see her body lying on the ground, unmoving, while her spirit rose gracefully from the floor.

It was not nearly as distressing as she had imagined. Everything seemed just the same; she had the same looks, the same thoughts and feeling, the same personality, the same..._Harry!_

As if in slow motion, Lily spun to see her child. He was sitting in his crib, his lower lip beginning to tremble as Voldemort advanced on him.

'_No! _You monster! You evil monster!' Lily surged forwards, ready to defend Harry, but she was too late. With a twirl of his wand, Voldemort sent the killing curse straight at Harry, and then there was light, and screaming and pain, and fire and James' strong arms wrapped around her as she pressed herself to him.

Voldemort was gone. His cloak crumpled, folding to the ground, his wand skittering over the ashen remains of their house. Lily let out a dry sob as she reached forward to touch Harry. He was scarred. A jagged cut was etched into his skin, forming the shape of a lightning bolt.

'Oh...Oh, James...he feels so cold! I can barely touch him...'

'Maybe we're not meant to touch him, Lily,' said James heavily, 'Maybe...because, y'know, he's alive, and we're...not. I dunno...' And with that, James too bent to touch Harry but touching was as far as it got. They couldn't hold him, nestle him in their arms. They were separated forever, cut off from each other by an invisible line.

'How's he alive, James? How did he survive?'

'I don't know. Oh, Lily, you were so brave...So very brave.'

They were dead, but it didn't matter. They would stay together, loving each other forever, watching over Harry wherever he went, and nothing could separate them.

They stayed there all night, silent tears running down their cheeks, soft words dropping from their lips as they watched over Harry.

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_And that's that! Again, the chapters will get longer from now on, and hopefully better. Thanks to my two reviewers, and if you read please do review! It's my birthday this week! Yaynesses!  
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_Tabs :D_


	3. The Love and Loyalty of a Brother

_Aww...This chapter's really sad...Thanks to Angie, by the way, and I'll be continuing this for quite a while, so keep a look out!_

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The Love and Loyalty of a Brother

'Dead?'

Sirius Black felt a wave of dizziness sweep over him, and he reached out a hand to the garden gate, letting it take nearly all his weight. They couldn't be dead, they just couldn't...All the way to their house, he had been repeating that one word to himself over and over again.

_Dead...Dead...Dead...Dead._

Yet when he said it aloud, it sounded...wrong. Lily and James couldn't be dead, they _mustn't _be dead.

But they were. They were and it was all his fault.

Slowly, he walked up their garden path, numbly taking in his surroundings, letting his hand brush over the roses, their heads bobbing slightly at his touch. A choked, hoarse breath escaped his mouth when he saw that the front door was open, and that beyond it lay...

Sirius nearly ran to the door, and when he reached it he felt his head spin, and he fell to the floor, kneeling next to the body of his best friend James, the person he had considered a brother for many years now.

'James...James, speak to me! _James!_ Please James...Just say something, anything,' Sirius knew he was talking to a dead man, but he couldn't stop. He had seen James alive just weeks ago, talked to him, laughed and joked with him.

Sirius found he was crying, his body shaking with sobs as he knelt next to James.

'JAMES! COME BACK!' he bellowed into the crisp night air. Slowly, he reached up a shaky hand to wipe his eyes, and slowly his tears abated.

James' glasses were lying askew on his face, and for once he was not smiling. Sirius swallowed and straightened the glasses. It only seemed right to do so.

After a pause, Sirius got up to explore the ruined side of the house, dreading even then what he would find there. His foot crunched on the rubble and he almost tripped on the remains of a piano. Up ahead, he could see a dark mound, lying among the debris.

It was Lily. Sirius felt all the colour drain from his face as he crouched down beside her, and his hand trembled as he pushed the hair back from her face. As soon as he saw her beautiful emerald eyes, reflecting a thousand stars of the night sky, he began to cry anew. Fresh tears rolled down his cheeks as he knelt beside Lily, Lily who had been a sister to him, Lily who had always bubbled over with life and energy, and who was now as cold as snow.

'Oh, Lily..._LILY! _WHY...Why are you gone?' It was all he could say. He felt his head hang in despair and his wand drop from his hand. His wand...Their wands! Feverishly, Sirius began searching the remains of the house for their wands. He found James' lying discarded on the sofa, and Lily's in the kitchen, where he saw, to his distress, was a half-cooked meal, a meal that Lily and James would now never enjoy.

With a grim determination, Sirius used the last of his strength to levitate James over to lie beside Lily, and he then placed each wand in it's owners hands, closing first James' and then Lily's hands on their chests.

It was then that Sirius heard the plaintive cry of a baby. Of course...Harry! He was alive! Sirius rushed over to where the cries were coming from, and found Harry lying in the remains of his crib, beginning to wail uncontrollably. He was scarred. Cut on his forehead.

'Shush,' murmured Sirius, his voice shaking slightly, 'It's all OK now, Harry. All OK.'

But of course it wasn't. While Lily and James were dead, nothing would ever be OK.

Sirius looked at the baby in his arms. At least he had Harry.

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_Oh, poor Sirius! And he doesn't even get to look after Harry in the end!_

_Please R&R!_

_Tabs :D  
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	4. One Simple Little Button

_Hello! It's been a while...a LONG while...but here's the next chapter! A bit more light hearted this time, though I'm afraid it won't last too long what with Sirius soon ending up in prison. :(_

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One Simple Little Button

'So, what does _this _do?' asked James, prodding a microwave. Lily looked up from where she sat glumly at her sister's kitchen table, fingering the spirit form of her wand.

'It's a microwave,' she replied, 'People reheat or just warm up food in them. I think some people cook a few things with them too. I'm afraid I've never really liked them that much...I prefer to just use an oven.'

James nodded absent-mindedly, before poking the microwave and leaping back with a yell of surprise as the door flew open with a loud 'Ding!'.

Lily gave a snort of laughter, 'Smooth, Potter.'

James playfully stuck out his tongue at her, 'You know Lily, we've been married for a few years now. You do _know _your surname's Potter too, don't you?'

'Really?' asked Lily in mock surprise, 'Damn! I wouldn't have married you if I'd realised that.'

James' eyes widened and he looked mournfully at Lily. 'Really?' he asked pleadingly.

Lily scoffed and hit him lightly on the arm, 'Of course not! But remember, I'm still an Evans as well as a Potter! Which means I can make fun of you.'

James grinned and gave Lily a quick hug before he scooted off to the opposite end of the kitchen and grabbed an electronic whisk.

'Weird!' he exclaimed, 'Er...what does it do?'

Lily rolled her eyes, 'It's just like my whisk at home, except Petunia obviously prefers to use an electric whisk instead of actually doing the whisking herself...' Lily scowled at the gleaming counter-tops, in a thoroughly foul mood with her sister.

Two days ago, Lily and James had witnessed how Dumbledore had left Harry on the Dursley's doorstep, how Petunia had screamed when she'd seen him (this had sent Lily into a towering rage) and the quiet argument she and Vernon had had about what they did with Harry.

_'At least they didn't send him to an orphanage'_, thought Lily glumly. Then again, maybe his life would be better in an orphanage. At least he wouldn't be picked on by his cousin, practically ignored by his aunt (whenever she could, at least) and scowled and shouted at by his uncle.

'Li-ly,' whined James, I want to _do _something!'

Lily sighed, 'I don't know what _to _do, James! Harry's asleep, we can't make life hell for the Dursleys because they're out shopping...' Suddenly, inspiration struck her.

'James, you know we saw Vermin on a computer upstairs?'

'Ye-es,' said James, who was still very uncertain what it was computers actually did.

'Well, you know you wanted to have a go on it?'

'Yup,' said James, his eyes beginning to shine as he began to imagine getting on to that computer.

'Well, I think now is the perfect time...Let's go and delete all Vermin's files.'

With a wicked grin, Lily steered James out of the kitchen, already imagining all the trouble they could cause Vernon with one simple little button...

Petunia Dursley was at her dressing table, attempting to fluff out her hair slightly, and wondering what her neighbours were doing. In the bottom of her heart, a jagged knife was cutting at her viciously, reminding her that she had lost her sister. But she pushed the thought away; she shouldn't miss a _freak _like her, especially seeing as she had left her with her son to care for as well now. She pursed her lips, and was about to release an overly-dramatic sigh when a bellow of rage interrupted her bitter thoughts.

'Vernon?' Petunia hurried to the source of the noise, looking thoroughly ridiculous as she attempted to run in high heels.

'Vernon, darling, what's wrong?'

Mr Vernon Dursley was looking decidedly mad, his face a deep red, and his moustache seemed somehow to have swelled to twice it's size.

'...Computer...files...GONE!' bellowed Vernon, his arms waving around like a windmil.

'Gone, dear?' asked Petunia in a quavering voice, 'What's gone?'

'MY FILES!' roared Vernon, seizing a chair and throwing it against the wall.

'But...how?' asked Aunt Petunia, cowering a few feet from her irate husband.

'I don't know, do I?' Vernon was by now an unpleasant shade of purple, and a large vein was beginning to pulse and throb worryingly in his temple.

Over in the corner of the room, Lily and James were cracking up with laughter.

'That – was – hilarious!' choked James, 'Seriously Lily, you have a talent for pranks!'

Lily laughed at James, who was on all fours, beating his hand against the ground in his laughter, 'So do you, Jamie-boy! You helped out with the actual deletion...and you typed in the, ahem...message for Vernon to see when he opens up that last file...'

Just as Lily spoke, a roar of rage interrupted her, and James said gleefully, 'You know, I think he may have just found it...'

Lily smiled. Maybe death wouldn't be so bad after all.

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_There we go...You like? :)_

_Tabs :D  
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